Hi,
I have been watching NEX-5 camera since it was introduced, with several reasons. First, it allows to use many different lenses
from Nikon(F & G lens),Canon,Minolta,Carl Zeiss,Leica and more & new lens adapters are keep coming everyday. Secondly,
it takes good video as it came from Sony and taking Panorama picture is easier than ever & price is affordable.

UW housing choice was limited to Seatool but, I was excited to see new housing from Nauticam and I could not believe when I saw
it will allow to use Nikonos wet lenses. I am ready to order one & would like to hear the opinions & see if pictures are available.

I had a play around with this camera. I love the concept for much of the same reason as you. Was additionally very impressed by it's low light performance.

The deal breaker for me was ergonomics. While high iso looked good it was so hard to change it. I can see a lot of task loading underwater. It might perform like a dslr but it doesn't have the feel of one. Felt like a Ferrari engine with an automatic transmission.

Hi, I have been watching NEX-5 camera since it was introduced, with several reasons. First, it allows to use many different lensesfrom Nikon(F & G lens),Canon,Minolta,Carl Zeiss,Leica and more & new lens adapters are keep coming everyday. Secondly,it takes good video as it came from Sony and taking Panorama picture is easier than ever & price is affordable.

UW housing choice was limited to Seatool but, I was excited to see new housing from Nauticam and I could not believe when I sawit will allow to use Nikonos wet lenses. I am ready to order one & would like to hear the opinions & see if pictures are available.

Here's 2 photos showing the Nex-5 housing mounted with a Nikonos 15mm WA focused to infinity and aperture set to F22. The camera is set to 'A' mode and the exposure is adjusted automatically. TTL flash exposure works extremely well for Inon/Sea&Sea strobes vis optical fibre connection.

Since you mentioned it. The photos from Maldives were taken by Jac with Sea&Sea 12mm for Nikonos and E-mount 18-55; and those from Cebu were by me with a Nikonos 15mm and E-mount 18-55. We had used a wet diopter in front of the 18-55 for some shots.

Excellent to be able to use the Nikonos lenses. However what are the widest Nikonos lenses? Given the 1.6 crop factor even 16mm WA will just be 25mm equivalent though.

I wonder who will be the first one producing wet-contact lenses again after Nikon, if ever....

/O

There are 2 Wet WA lenses, Nikonos 15mm and Sea&Sea 12mm but, many people agrees Nikonos lens was better in many ways. And crop factor on NEX-5 camera is1.5 . I think we will all see the sample images in few weeks. For Macro, 35mm with extension tube and 80mm with x2 wet diopter will be Nikonos lens choice.

With the NEX; the Nikonos 15mm then be equivalent to 22-23mm on full frame.
If this is the case, this would make it of pretty limited use would it not? Any real advantages besides not having to carry a dome? Lack of autofocus and other electronic connections, hmmm, manual focus on an LCD screen underwater has to be pretty tough. Is this just nostalgia or is this really a useful feature?

With the NEX; will the Nikonos 15mm then be equivalent to 22-23mm on full frame?

Yes, of course this is a gimmick, but it is a very cool one. And this doesn't take away from the fact the NEX looks a great UW, just probably not with Nikonos lenses.

The 15mm is not wide enough (considering Stephen says it is a 20mm equivalent and then you have to consider the crop factor, that is not wide at all). However, when there is a FF sensor NEX, this solution might start getting very interesting.

One of the coolest things about mirrorless systems in my opinion is that they allow unique combinations like this. Utility is in the eye of the utilizer . I'm hoping to house a Voigtlaender 12mm /5.6 on NEX-5. It might rock, it might not, but for me trying these things out is fun, and occasionally you stumble on something that fills a need.

Nikonos 15mm projects a 72 degree diagonal aov on NEX-5. If you have a subject in mind that is well suited for that aov I don't think any lens behind a dome can be sharper.

Nikonos 28 with extension tubes outresolves slr macro lenses behind a flat port. Less flexible, but I'm sure that will be an attractive option for some.

Some will use Nikonos 15 because they feel it is one of the sharpest lenses ever produced for shooting underwater. I'm sure someone will eventually post comparison images from Sony E- 18-55 at 20mm v. UW-Nikkor 15mm, and it will be interesting to see what is gained from the water contact optics.